Time for your HR health check?

Businesses of all sizes often have the “HR Health Check” on their to-do list, but it never quite gets completed. While any time is a good time to get your house in order, the start of a new year presents a real opportunity to review and refresh your people practices and documentation.

For many Australian workers and small business owners, we come back from the summer shutdown feeling relaxed and revived. Even those of us in industries that don’t shut down appreciate the slower pace over Christmas and New Year's.

I sometimes hear comments from employers like “This crazy phenomenon only happens here!” or “The rest of the world doesn’t shut down like this”.

To which I respectfully respond with: “Good job, and so what?!”

As Aussies, we celebrate our uniqueness in many ways and we punch well above our weight in many areas. Perhaps part of our unique cultural recipe includes this ability to walk away from work for 2-4 weeks and come back together refreshed (though I'm pretty sure most of the western world does the same).

There is an urgency before the Xmas break to get things done. Followed by a wind-down that sparks a shared sigh of relief.

Eating a weird combination of summer and winter foods. Hanging out, enjoying the hot weather, visiting favourite old haunts, and making new discoveries. Then, returning reinvigorated, ready to kick off a new year. Focussed again… by about early February.

So, what has all this got to do with your people processes?

Many of the people I speak to acknowledge their business is long overdue for a “HR Health Check” - a full review of their employment documents, practices, agreements, policies, contracts, job descriptions, pay rates, performance reviews etc. But somehow other things can take priority and before you know it, it's April, and the year is steaming ahead.

So, now is the time! Fresh back from holiday, equipped with New Year’s resolutions, it’s never been easier to tick those important boxes.

Tips to ensure your HR is in good shape

Start by answering these 10 questions:

1. Have you reviewed the content of your employment contracts in the last 12 months? Are your current contracts compliant with recent legislative changes?
2. Do you have important information documented in company policies? If so, have you relied upon all of them in the past 12 months and do they need a refresh? If you don’t have any policies, have you been able to deal with workforce issues adequately without referencing documentation? Do you have a process to update these policies to keep up with legislative changes, e.g. family and domestic violence leave, flexible working processes, bullying and harassment?
3. Are you confident that you are taking sufficient proactive steps to prevent and prohibit sexual harassment in your workplace? Does this form part of employee inductions and training, monitoring and shaping workplace culture, ensuring complaints are investigated etc?
4. Are you retaining all your best people?
5. Are you conducting regular, effective performance reviews for key people?
6. Are you satisfied that your leave management (calculations, accruals etc) and payroll systems are 100% accurate?
7. Are you confident when managing employment processes such as major change and disciplinary?
8. Do you feel comfortable that you are up-to-date with national and local work health and safety laws and workers' compensation?
9. Do you always get good results from your recruitment campaigns?
10. Do your people have the right skills to recruit effectively?

If you answer “no” to any questions, you cannot afford to wait. Make it happen, seize the day!